por admin » Jue Oct 14, 2010 10:24 pm
Stop bashing business, Mr president
Si trataramos de empezar hoy dia The Home Depot (es una cadena de tiendas) estamos muy seguros de que no hubieramos podido hacerlo.
Aunque estoy contento de que haya respondido una de mis preguntas en Washington, Mr. presidente, debo decir, que ese evento me parecio mas una lectura que un dialogo. Por mas de dos anios el pais ha escuchado a su afilada retorica de como los negocios Americanos estan sacando ventaja de los trabajadores, enganiando a sus clientes, sacandole la vuelta a los que les prestan dinero, y generalmente "llevando a la economia a la baja" solo para prestarme una de sus expresiones.
Mi pregunta es por que, en este tiempo en que la inversion y el dinamismo son tan criticos para nuestro pais, es necesario calificar vilmente precisamente a los que propulsa ese crecimiento? En lugar de dar una respuesta directa, Ud me informo que yo era parte de ese grupo "irresponsable" que ha "tomado malas decisiones" y que necesitaba ser "guiado", si solo paraba de "resistirme.
Estoy seguro de que esos argumentos atraen los aplausos de los democratas. Pero para mis oidos suenan ofensivos. Por supuesto, uno de los mayores errores es el pensar que la planificacion centralizada de la economia es que los planificadores saben mas que los demas.
Pero hay un problema mas grande y profundo que si yo me irrito o no. Su insistencia de que sus politicas son necesarias y beneficiosas para los negocios estan totalmente end desacuerdo con lo que Ud. y su administracion estan diciendo en otros sitios. Ud. se busco una pelea con la Camara de Comercio, acusandolos de usar dinero extranjero para influenciar las elecciones del Congreso, algo que la Camara ha negado rotundamente. Su fiscal en New York, Preet Bahrara, compara firmas de inversiones con el cartel de dorgas de Mexico y dice que quiere el poder de poder escuchar las conversaciones de Wall Street cuando a le le parezca bien. Y Ud. le dice riendo a las multitudes que lso que se oponen a sus politicas estan parados en el camino mientras Ud. la esta sudando trabajando.
Esa miopia crea incertidumbre, que como cualquier inversionista puede decirle, causa paralisis economica. Esto es porque nadie puede saber que es lo que hara maniana.
Hace un poco mas de 30 anios, Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, Par Farrah y yo nos juntamos y fundamos The Home Depot. Nuestro suenio fue crear (memo a los democratas: construir no forzar o apropiarse) un nuevo centro de mejoras para las casas hechas por los mismos duenios de casas. El concepto era general con un alto nivel de servicio al menor precio posible.
Nosotros abrimos nuestras puertas en 1979, tambien un tiempo de desaceleracion de la eocnomia. Pero ahora, Home Depot tiene mas de 325,000 dedicados, bien entrenados y altamente motivados empleados que brindan servicio de primera con conocimiento profundo a millones de consumidores.
Si nosotros quisieramos hoy dia empezar un Home Depot, bajo las condiciones de regulacion y control que Ud. predica, tenemos la absoluta certeza que nuestro negocio jamas despegaria, menos triunfaria. Las reglas contra dar stock options nos hubiera prevenido de incentivar a nuestros mejores empleados al inicio, ni que decir de los enormes costos que la nueva regulacion causa y el seguro de salud obligatorio. Todavia peor son los abogados a la busqueda de cualquier falla para demandarnos.
Mientras tanto, Ud parece obsesionado con hacer expirar los recortes de impuestos a los "millonarios y billonario". Contrario a lo que Ud. asume, yo no empeze con ninguna ventaja y lo mismo pueden decirles todas las personas de exito que conozco. Yo soy el nieto de un inmigrante que vino a este pais buscando lo basico economicamente y la libertad personal. Mis padres trabajaron incansablemente para lograr esa oportunidad. Mi primer trabajo fue de obrero de construccion en el Long Island Expressway hace mas de 50 anios. La riqueza que fue creada con mi inversion no se puso en una piscina gigante como muchos demagogos se imaginan. En su lugar ha beneficiado a nuestros empleados, sus familias y nuestra comunidad en general.
Apoyo con mucho entusiasmo a los que quieran mejorar nuestra sociedad y nuestr sistema de salud. No tiene sentido enviar cheques del Tesoro a los que mas ganan en forma de Social Security. Eso lo incluye a Ud y a los miembros del Congreso. Por que no recortar la alfombra roja, Mr. presidente y aplicar una prueba basica a ese programa, solo fijese que el dinero reduzca el deficit fiscal y no es gastado en otra cosa. Yo le garantizo que cada millonario y billonario renunciara a ese beneficio como mi esposa y yo ya lo hemos hecho ya que damos ese cheque a organizaciones de caridad todos los meses.
No es muy tarde para incluir las voces de la gente de negocios con experiencia en sus esfuerzos, los duenios de pequenios engocios en particular. Los Americanos tendrian razon en preguntarse por que no lo ha hecho hasta ahora.
Mr. Langone, a former director of the New York Stock Exchange and co-founder of Home Depot, is chairman of Invemed Associates.
Stop Bashing Business, Mr. President
If we tried to start The Home Depot today, it's a stone cold certainty that it would never have gotten off the ground.
By KEN LANGONE
Although I was glad that you answered a question of mine at the Sept. 20 town-hall meeting you hosted in Washington, D.C., Mr. President, I must say that the event seemed more like a lecture than a dialogue. For more than two years the country has listened to your sharp rhetoric about how American businesses are short-changing workers, fleecing customers, cheating borrowers, and generally "driving the economy into a ditch," to borrow your oft-repeated phrase.
My question to you was why, during a time when investment and dynamism are so critical to our country, was it necessary to vilify the very people who deliver that growth? Instead of offering a straight answer, you informed me that I was part of a "reckless" group that had made "bad decisions" and now required your guidance, if only I'd stop "resisting" it.
I'm sure that kind of argument draws cheers from the partisan faithful. But to my ears it sounded patronizing. Of course, one of the chief conceits of centralized economic planning is that the planners know better than everybody else.
But there's a much deeper problem than whether I am personally irked or not. Your insistence that your policies are necessary and beneficial to business is utterly at odds with what you and your administration are saying elsewhere. You pick a fight with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, accusing it of using foreign money to influence congressional elections, something the chamber adamantly denies. Your U.S. attorney in New York, Preet Bahrara, compares investment firms to Mexican drug cartels and says he wants the power to wiretap Wall Street when he sees fit. And you drew guffaws of approving laughter with your car-wreck metaphor, recently telling a crowd that those who differ with your approach are "standing up on the road, sipping a Slurpee" while you are "shoving" and "sweating" to fix the broken-down jalopy of state.
View Full Image
Associated Press
President Barack Obama during a September 20th town hall.
.That short-sighted wavering—between condescending encouragement one day and hostile disparagement the next—creates uncertainty that, as any investor could tell you, causes economic paralysis. That's because no one can tell what to expect next.
A little more than 30 years ago, Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, Pat Farrah and I got together and founded The Home Depot. Our dream was to create (memo to DNC activists: that's build, not take or coerce) a new kind of home-improvement center catering to do-it-yourselfers. The concept was to have a wide assortment, a high level of service, and the lowest pricing possible.
We opened the front door in 1979, also a time of severe economic slowdown. Yet today, Home Depot is staffed by more than 325,000 dedicated, well-trained, and highly motivated people offering outstanding service and knowledge to millions of consumers.
If we tried to start Home Depot today, under the kind of onerous regulatory controls that you have advocated, it's a stone cold certainty that our business would never get off the ground, much less thrive. Rules against providing stock options would have prevented us from incentivizing worthy employees in the start-up phase—never mind the incredibly high cost of regulatory compliance overall and mandatory health insurance. Still worse are the ever-rapacious trial lawyers.
Meantime, you seem obsessed with repealing tax cuts for "millionaires and billionaires." Contrary to what you might assume, I didn't start with any advantages and neither did most of the successful people I know. I am the grandson of immigrants who came to this country seeking basic economic and personal liberty. My parents worked tirelessly to build on that opportunity. My first job was as a day laborer on the construction of the Long Island Expressway more than 50 years ago. The wealth that was created by my investments wasn't put into a giant swimming pool as so many elected demagogues seem to imagine. Instead it benefitted our employees, their families and our community at large.
I stand behind no one in my enthusiasm and dedication to improving our society and especially our health care. It's worth adding that it makes little sense to send Treasury checks to high net-worth people in the form of Social Security. That includes you, me and scores of members of Congress. Why not cut through that red tape, Mr. President, and apply a basic means test to that program? Just make sure that money actually reduces federal spending and isn't simply shifted elsewhere. I guarantee you that many millionaires and billionaires will gladly forego it—as my wife and I already do when we forward those checks each month to charity.
It's not too late to include the voices of experienced business people in your efforts, small businesses owners in particular. Americans would be right to wonder why you haven't already.
Mr. Langone, a former director of the New York Stock Exchange and co-founder of Home Depot, is chairman of Invemed Associates.